| SEC volleyball RESULTS |
Kentucky 3, Georgia 1
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South Carolina 3, Mississippi State 0
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LSU 3, Alabama 0
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Arkansas 3, Ole Miss 0
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Tennessee 3, Auburn 1
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Defense Propels No. 24 Kentucky Past Georgia
ATHENS Ga. – Behind one of its strongest defensive efforts of the season the No. 24 Kentucky volleyball team turned in a 3-1 (25-27, 25-13, 25-16, 25-16) victory at Georgia Friday night. The Wildcats totaled a season-best 20 blocks and five different players registered 10 or more digs in the match.
With the win, Kentucky improves to 18-4 overall on the year and 9-2 in conference play. Georgia drops to 9-12 overall and 5-6 in league action.
UK capped all three of its set victories behind big runs. In the second set the Wildcats utilized a 13-2 run to finish the frame. In the fourth set it was a 12-4 final push and a 15-7 stretch captured the match for the visitors.
The Wildcats charted a season-high 20 blocks led by seven each from seniors Ann Armes and Becky Pavan. Every player that posts near the net registered at least four blocks on the night.
UK’s back-line defensive effort was equally impressive with five different players recording 10 or more scoops. Junior Stephanie Klefot led the way with 17 to move into sole possession of third place all-time on the UK career digs list passing former great Katie Eiserman.
Sophomore Jessi Greenberg matched a career-high with 12 digs and freshman Jackie Napper added 12 of her own. Sophomore Whitney Billings added 10 and junior Christine Hartmann totaled her third double-double of the season with 10 scoops and 39 assists.
Junior Ashley Frazier led the offensive out-put by matching a career-best with 18 hammers. Pavan was the second player to reach double-figures with 10. Armes tossed down nine on a match-high .412 hitting percentage.
Kentucky rolled to a 25-13 second set to even the match at one set apiece going into the locker room. Kentucky closed out the frame on a 13-2 run to retake the momentum from the home team. The difference was the stellar defensive effort for the Blue and White with six blocks in the stanza. Georgia managed seven kills on a -.067 hitting clip. Kentucky also tossed down 11 kills on a blazing .474 hitting percentage.
The stanza opened with consecutive rejections from the Wildcats. Frazier teamed up with Pavan and then Hartmann stood tall for a solo put-back. Georgia pulled back to within two at 13-11, but the Wildcats would close out the set on an incredible 13-2 run. Kentucky posted six kills, two blocks and an ace in the run. Frazier led the offense with four kills in the set, while Armes added three to aid the visitor’s cause.
The Wildcats went ahead 2-1 with a 25-16 third set victory out of the locker room. Kentucky’s balance was on display in the third stanza as the offense and defense both shined for the Blue and White. UK posted 15 kills on .382 hitting while the defense limited Georgia to 11 kills on .139 hitting. Kentucky posted four more blocks in the set to set a new standard for blocks in a match in just the third frame.
Georgia opened the scoring and grabbed an early 2-0 advantage, but the Wildcats roared back with a kill from Hartmann and a Frazier-Armes block. UK earned its first advantage at 7-6 thanks to a kill from an efficient Armes. Georgia kept it close and was within one at 13-12, but the Wildcats recaptured control and capped the stanza on a 12-4 run.
Kentucky secured a 3-1 victory following a 25-16 final set victory. The Wildcats posted five blocks and limited Georgia to just a .056 hitting clip and nine kills in the final set. Kentucky’s offense struck for 12 kills and added three aces to cap off the victory.
A kill from Frazier and a solo block from Pavan started the scoring in the fourth frame. Georgia responded with a run of its own to earn a 9-6 lead in the early going. Kentucky recaptured the lead at 10-9 following a kill from freshman Lauren O’Conner. From there the Blue and White capped the set with a 15-7 run.
Georgia opened the match outlasting UK in the first frame by a 27-25 score. Kentucky was down 24-21 and saved three set points to force the stanza into extra points, but the home team staved off the late rally. Kentucky tossed down 15 kills on a .106 attacking clip, however committed 10 hitting errors to enable the home squad to earn the opening set.
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Balanced Offensive Attack Helps South Carolina Sweep Mississippi State
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (11-10, 2-9 SEC) used a balanced offensive attack to sweep past Mississippi State (10-10, 5-6 SEC) in three sets, taking the frames 25-19, 26-24, 25-22 in front of 503 fans on Friday night at the Volleyball Competition Facility.
The Gamecocks hit .359 on the evening, getting seven or more kills from all six starters. Sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thévenin posted 13 kills and 15 digs. Senior middle blocker Teresa Stenlund hit .474 while making 10 kills. Freshman outside hitters Cara Howley and Bethanie Thomas both had nine kills, while junior setter Taylor Bruns posted nine kills on a .727 hitting percentage, adding 44 assists and seven digs. Sophomore middle blocker Megan Kent hit a career-best .500 while compiling seven kills and three block assists. Sophomore libero Paige Wheeler tallied 16 digs to lead all players and matched her career high with five assists.
Mississippi State’s Caitlin Rance posted 17 kills, moving into eighth in school history for kills and becoming the 10th Bulldog to tally 1,000 career kills. Hillary Parker added 11 digs for the Bulldogs.
South Carolina came out hitting on all cylinders, posting a .421 hitting percentage in the first frame to take the set, 25-19. Howley, Stenlund and Thomas all had five kills in the first. A five-point run on Bruns’ serve put the Gamecocks ahead for good, with two Stenlund kills helping in the stretch. Only twice would the Bulldogs get back-to-back points the rest of the set, while South Carolina got to set point thanks to a four-point run, powered by three Thomas kills. After a Dani McCree kill stopped the streak, Kent put one away to end the frame at 25-19.
A tight second set tipped the Gamecocks’ way in the end, 26-24. Seven lead changes and 19 tied scores came in the second, when neither team ever held more than a two-point advantage. Mississippi State had momentum going there way toward the end, getting a kill and an ace from Faith Steinwedell to get to set point at 24-23. But the Gamecocks posted the only three-point run in the set to end it, getting Thévenin kills around a Bulldog attack error to take the 26-24 win. Thévenin dominated play, posting 10 kills on 17 swings with just one error while also making seven digs.
The Gamecocks made a late surge to take the final set, 25-22. Down two points twice late (17-15, 20-18), South Carolina responded both times to tie the score with two-point stands. Mississippi State had one last lead after a Rance kill put them ahead 21-20, but the Gamecocks ripped off three-straight points to take the advantage, capping the stand with a block from Howley and Kent. A Lainey Wyman kill stopped the run, but it was also the last Bulldog point. Thomas put away a kill, and Kent and Bruns stuffed one last Bulldog attack to end the set and match. Thomas had four kills without an error in the final frame, while both Thévenin and Wheeler posted five digs each.
The Garnet and Black posted 20 more digs (58-38) than the Bulldogs and won the hitting battle, .359-.216. The teams tied with five blocks each, while Mississippi State held one lone advantage with two aces to South Carolina’s one.
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Arkansas Sweeps Ole Miss
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jasmine Norton tallied a match-high 17 kills as the University of Arkansas volleyball team swept past Ole Miss (25-23, 28-26, 25-23) Friday evening at Barnhill Arena. Kelli Stipanovich added 10 kills and Raymariely Santos directed Arkansas’ offense with 41 assists. The Razorbacks finished the night with a .268 hitting percentage.
Norton (17 kills and 10 digs) and Santos (41 assists and 12 digs) both posted double-double performances in the win. Freshman libero Christa Alvarez registered a match-high 19 digs while Amanda Anderson and Roslandy Acosta led the team’s efforts at the net with four total blocks each. Arkansas out-dug the Rebels, 58-53, in Friday’s match.
Ole Miss (5-14, 1-10 SEC) jumped out to an early advantage in set one and led 5-2 after a kill from Allegra Wells. The visitors’ lead grew to 14-9 after consecutive service aces by Kara Morgan. After a timeout, the Razorbacks began to chip away at their deficit and with a kill on an overpassed ball by Charmaine Whitmore, Arkansas (13-8, 5-5 SEC) was back to within one. The Rebels used a quick push to go back ahead by three, 19-16.
With her team down three, Alvarez stepped to the service line and won four points in a row, including an ace. The run of points gave the Razorback their first lead of the match. Stipanovich gave Arkansas set point with her third kill of the game. Ole Miss saved one set point but on the next play, Norton found the floor to give Arkansas the set win, 25-23.
In the opening stages of the second set, neither team could distance from the other and battled to a 10-10 tie. The Razorbacks won the next four points behind two kills each from Acosta and Anderson. The home team held on to its lead until Ole Miss strung together five points in a row to take a 21-19 lead. Norton had Arkansas’ next three kills to put the team ahead and begin a back-and-forth ending.
The Rebels arrived at set point, 24-22, after setter Amanda Philpot found the back line with a second-ball attack. Once again, Arkansas turned to Norton who put down two consecutive kills to even the score. After a service error from Kasey Heckelman, Ole Miss had another set point but Norton kept the Razorbacks alive with another kill. Stipanovich gave Arkansas set point with a solo block and an attack error by Wells on the ensuing play gave the Razorbacks the set, 28-26.
Norton totaled 10 kills in the second set. In a game that featured several extended rallies, the Razorbacks posted 31 second-set digs including 11 from Alvarez.
Arkansas closed out the match with another come-from-behind effort in the third set. With the score tied at 13-13, the Rebels put together a four-point run to take control of play. From that point, the teams played even until a kill by Regina Thomas gave Ole Miss a 21-18 lead. The Razorbacks responded with a 4-0 push of their own and took a 22-21 lead, capped by a service ace from Norton.
The visitors tied the score on the next play with a kill by Wells but Heckelman brought Arkansas to match point with a kill on an overpassed ball. On the team’s second chance to close out the match, Norton pounded the final kill of the night to send the Razorbacks to the straight-set victory.
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LSU Topples Alabama
BATON ROUGE – Malorie Pardo dished out 47 assists to spark the LSU volleyball team to its third consecutive victory and a crisp .468 team hitting percentage en route to a dominating sweep of Alabama [25-15, 25-17, 25-18] Friday at the Maravich Center.
In the process, LSU (14-6, 7-3 SEC) won its 11th straight match versus Alabama (10-12, 3-8 SEC) and opened up a two match lead over Arkansas at the halfway point of the SEC Western Division race.
The 47 helpers for Pardo, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, matched a SEC-high for a three-set match on the season. The League City, Texas fueled LSU’s offense to 52 kills and both of her middle blockers to double figure spikes.
Desiree Elliott hammered home 15 kills on a scorching .591 hitting clip and added three blocks. It extended her run to three consecutive outings with over a .300 ratio.
Michele Williams slapped 10 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, her highest mark since the Wake Forest match back on Sept. 9.
From the outside, Helen Boyle, Madie Jones and Nicole Willis combined to crank 26 kills on an efficient 52 swings. Willis also equaled a career-best with five digs and tacked on two blocks, while Boyle secured six digs and two blocks.
LSU’s back row was poised behind a 71 percent sideout effort and was perfect on all 48 of its receptions. Meghan Mannari sprawled out for a match-high 14 digs and has tallied 10 or more digs during nine of 10 SEC matches.
Sam Delahoussaye and Lauren Waclawczyk corralled seven digs each. For Waclawczyk, she has captured 1,173 career scoops and surpassed former All-SEC standout Detra Brown (1983-86) for sole possession of eighth place on the program’s all-time list. Delahoussaye also slapped a match-best three aces.
Alabama was paced by Kayla Fitterer, who returned to the lineup for the first time in two weeks. She connected for a match-high 17 kills on a .441 attack rate. The Crimson Tide received a match-best four blocks from Cortney Warren.
LSU led wire-to-wire during the opening stanza and built a commanding 14-7 advantage behind a trio of kills from Elliott and Williams. The Tigers stretched their lead to as high as 11 at 23-12 on another Elliott quick kill. Williams delivered the final blow to secure the 25-15 triumph as LSU ripped 17 kills on a blistering .520 hitting percentage.
The Tigers saved their best effort for the middle frame and belted 18 kills on 30 swings with only one error to tally a .567 hitting clip. LSU raced out to 11 of the first 14 points of the set, but Alabama charged back aided by Fitterer’s five spikes to pull back to 16-12. The Tigers turned up the defensive energy and forced the Crimson Tide into two attack errors sandwiched between Williams and Boyle kills to regain a 20-12 edge. The two teams traded the final 10 points as LSU emerged with a 25-17 victory.
LSU and Alabama traded five ties and a lead change to start set three. Tied at 10-10, the Tigers pieced together an 8-3 spurt fueled by two Willis kills and an Elliott-Willis stuff to surge ahead 18-13. The Crimson Tide trimmed the deficit down to three points on two occasions, the latest at 19-16, but LSU notched six of the next eight points capped by Elliott and Willis kills to wrap up the sweep by a 25-18 margin.
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Lady Vols Finish Strong in Win Over Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. - The #20 University of Tennessee volleyball team got off to a bit of a sluggish start against Auburn, but bounced back to win three straight sets and defeat the Tigers in four, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18, on Friday evening at the Student Activities Center on the campus of Auburn University.
With the win, the Lady Vols improve to 17-3 overall and 10-1 in Southeastern Conference play. The victory also assures UT of being .500 or better in league play for the fourth straight season and the 13th time under head coach Rob Patrick.
Freshman Tiffany Baker had a career night in kills and hitting percentage, as she registered a team- and personal-best 19 kills and led the team in hitting percentage at a clip of .447. She was one block short of tying her season-best, as she had four put backs against the Tigers, one of them being a solo block. Her previous career-best of 14 kills came in September against Houston.
Two other Lady Vols tallied double-digit kills, as junior DeeDee Harrison hammered 12 and sophomore Kelsey Robinson notched 10 of her own. Harrison also led the team in blocks with six, three of which were solo.
Mary Pollmiller had 47 of the Lady Vols 53 assists, as the freshman also tied a career-high in blocks with three. As a team, the Lady Vols outhit Auburn, .238-.172 and dug up 10 more balls than AU, 51-41. Libero Ellen Mullins led the team in digs with 16 and received 27 Auburn serves, which was also the most on the squad.
Freshman Shealyn Kolosky hit .400 for the match as she registered six kills and a pair of digs. Junior Leslie Cikra also had six kills of her own, as she was clutch down the stretch for the Orange and White.
The first set of the match saw Auburn score the first three points, before a Tiger serve into the net gave the Orange and White their first point, trailing 3-1. Tennessee’s first five points of the frame came by way of AU miscues but the Tigers lead wire-to-wire in the set.
Down 10-5, UT rallied by scoring the next three to cut the lead to two, 10-8. During that run Pollmiller had a kill, Robinson and Harrison combined for a block to go along with an Auburn error.
The Big Orange would get no closer than two, as with the score 11-8 in favor of Auburn, the squads would trade the ensuing eight points to make the score 15-12. Tennessee would get within three, 19-16, after back-to-back kills from Sahagian and Harrison.
Another kill from Baker made the score 22-18, but the Tigers tallied the three of the final four points of the set to win the opening frame, 25-19. Baker was outstanding in the set, blasting five kills, as she hit at a .625 clip. Both teams struggled from the service line as UT had six serving errors to Auburn’s five.
The second frame was similar to what UT fans are accustomed to seeing, as the Big Orange quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead and never look back. With Tennessee leading 5-2 off an Auburn service error, the Tigers scored the next two to cut into the Tennessee lead, 5-4.
Tennessee would respond to the Tiger rally, as the team went on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 10-4. Baker was an instrumental part in that run, as the Carrolton, Texas, native had two kills and a solo block. The ensuing eight points would go back-and-forth as the Lady Vols kept their lead at six, 14-8.
The Tigers would cut into the Tennessee lead once more, going on a 3-0 rally to make the score 14-11. Neither team would be able to score two consecutive points until an ace by Mullins followed a Baker kill to give the Lady Vols a 22-17 lead. Prior to the serving ace by Mullins, UT and AU split 12 points.
The squads would go back-and-forth until Tennessee reached the 25-point mark. A pair of Baker kills got Tennessee within one, 24-19. A shot from Robinson ended the set at 25-20 as the Orange and White headed into the break tied at one in the match with Auburn.
Following the 10 minute intermission, the Lady Vols and Tigers were even early in the third set at three apiece. After a block from Baker and Kolosky gave UT its first lead of the set at 4-3, Auburn would quickly respond and knot the score up at four. That’s when Tennessee would surge, scoring the next four points off of a Baker kill, a Pollmiller block, a Robinson kill and a block from Baker and Kolosky to grab an 8-4 advantage.
Tennessee would keep the lead at four, 9-5 and 10-6, but Auburn would score two straight to make the score 10-8. Like before, the Lady Vols came right back and rattled off five straight points. Two blocks along with a Robinson ace, a Harrison kill and an AU miscue gave UT a 15-8 advantage.
Auburn would slowly cut into the Big Orange lead, getting as close as one on four occasions. The first three times the Tigers would get within one, 18-17, 19-18 and 20-19, Robinson blasted kills to give the Lady Vols a two point advantage. Two attack errors by AU gave UT a 23-19 lead, but Auburn would score four of the next five to again make it a one point set, 24-23.
Cikra ended the Tigers’ hopes of coming back in the set, as she put down a kill to give the Lady Vols the third frame, 25-23 and a 2-1 match lead. In the third set, Robinson had four kills and Baker had three blocks.
Auburn would not easily be tamed in the fourth set, as it raced out to a quick 4-0 lead. Tennessee scored five of the ensuing seven points to cut the deficit to one, 6-5. Two miscues by the Tigers even the set up at seven and a pair of kills from Baker and one from Kolosky gave UT a 10-8 lead.
The set would be tied at 10, 11 and 12 before a solo block from Harrison, back-to-back kills from Cikra and an AU attack error gave Tennessee the lead for good at 16-12. The Tigers would get as close as four on three occasions, but the Orange and White pulled away late. With the score 19-15, Baker, Robinson and Kolosky all blasted kills to give UT a 22-15 advantage.
Another kill from Kolosky made the score 23-16 and Harrison scored the last two UT points in the set, both kills, to give Tennessee the set, 25-18, and leave the state of Alabama with a victory.